Pink INK and News

The Reverend Joshua Morgan Noblitt 04T, Minister of Social Justice at Saint Mark United Methodist Church, is set to throw his hat into the ring to run for the open State House seat that will be available when State Rep. Margaret Kaiser steps down to run for mayor. If elected, he would be the first openly gay man elected to the Georgia legislature.

Watershed at Peachtree, owned by Emily Saliers 85C, has been voted 2015 Best Atlanta Brunch Restaurants by GAYOT, and has also been selected as one of the Best Celebrity Owned Restaurants by USA Today. Emily’s restaurant was one of the first to promote the farm-to-table movement more than a decade ago, and gets its name from an Indigo Girls’ song.

Scott Turner Schofield 02C is currently on the Bold and the Beautiful. With 30 million global viewers, it is the most watched TV show in the world. The acclaimed diversity educator officially joined the cast of the CBS daytime soap, The Bold and the Beautiful, on May 8. The role will mark both Schofield’s television debut and the first time a transgender actor will play a major, recurring role on a daytime program.

Cameron Coppala 16C has been elected as President of Emory Pride for 2015-2016. Cameron was the 2014 recipient of the GALA Leadership Award. Emory Pride is the undergraduate LGBTQ and Ally organization dedicated to creating a safe, inclusive, and accessible campus for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Their mission is to to provide Emory students with opportunities to engage in advocacy, education and social interactions to create a stronger and more inclusive queer and allied community. Other members of the Executive Board of Emory Pride include: Vice President of External Affairs: Anthony Chau 18C; Vice President of Internal Affairs: Duy Nguyen 17C; Secretary: Margee Quinn 16C; Treasurer: Ana Beain 16C; and Publicity Representative: Katya Miranda 18C.

Danielle Steele has been appointed Interim Director of LGBT Life and the Center for Women. She has served as Interim Director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life since last June. In this joint role, Danielle will continue to strengthen the programs, services and initiatives for both LGBT Life and the Center for Women. In other big news for Danielle, she and Keisa Bruce were married in Washington, D.C. in Meridian Hill Park on July 17th, 2014.

Alonquin Books has published a memoir, How I Shed My Skin: Unlearning the Lessons of a Racist Childhood, by Jim Grimsley, Emory Professor of Practice in Creative Writing . Jim’s first novel, Winter Birds, won the 1995 Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His second novel, Dream Boy, won the American Library Association GLBT Award for Literature (the Stonewall Prize), and was a Lambda finalist. His third novel, My Drowning, was released in January 1997 by Algonquin Books, and for it he was named Georgia Author of the Year. His fourth novel, Comfort & Joy, was a Lambda finalist. A fantasy novel, Kirith Kirin won the Lambda in the science fiction and horror category for 2001. He has published short fiction in The Ontario Review and Asimov’s, and his stories have been anthologized in The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Volume 16, Men on Men 4, Men on Men 2000, and Best Stories from the South, year 2001. Boulevard, published in 2002, was again a Lambda finalist in the literature category, and won Jim his second Georgia Author of the Year designation. His novel, The Ordinary, a science fiction novel published in 2004 by Tor Books, won a Lambda in the science fiction/fantasy/horror category.

Ryan B. Roche 03Ox 05C has completed his term as President of the Oxford Alumni Board, and will be back in the saddle with the Steering Committee of GALA: Emory LGBT Alumni. Ryan also serves as co-chair of the Auction Committee of the Human Rights Campaign-Atlanta, and is on the Board of the Atlanta Pride Committee, Inc.
Dr. Elliott Mackle 77G continues to receive accolades for his most recent novel, Sunset Island. His first novel, It Takes Two, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award as Best Gay Mystery of 2003. Elliott was the first co-chair and a founder of GALA: Emory LGBT Alumni. Elliot was also the former dining critic for the Atlanta Journal Constitution and a longtime Creative Loafing columnist.

Renee Weese 02 EMBA and Markbradley Kitay 14B were panelists at the “Out in Business” networking event on April 16 at Goizueta Business School. Over 50 students and alumni attended. Renee is a financial planning consultant with the Minerva Planning Group. Markbradly is an Associate Business Analyst at Ernst and Young in Atlanta

Dr. Aby Parsons 13G, Director of the LGBTQIA Resource Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology, was recently honored by the University with two awards, The Outstanding Staff Performance Entrepreneurship Award celebrates staff who best exemplify the values and approach of the strategic business operations framework, and is given in recognition of efforts that impact a department or unit. The Georgia Tech Residence Life Cornerstone Award honors Aby for establishing partnerships between the LGBTQIA Resource Center and Housing and serving as a resource and support to housing students and staff.